Paper #2

Due: Monday, December 4^th (by the beginning of class)

Format: Papers must be 5-6 pages in length.

Late Papers: As this due date is only five days before the final exam, no late papers will be accepted.

Choose one of the following topics. Write an essay with a clear thesis, well-structured argument and strong transitions. You must make reference to at least five sources (documents or secondary sources).

1. In the first half of the 19^th Century, a number of groups within the United States struggled to assert their rights. In the case of both Native Americans and African Americans, the obstacles to full inclusion in the U.S. polity, economy, and society gave a special importance to the articulation of a unique identity distinct from the dominant white (male) culture. Discuss the ways in which these two groups asserted their identity in The Shawnee Prophet and Frederick Douglas’ Narrative (and at least three other sources).

2. The creation of a society that elevated individual freedoms as the key to social harmony, economic equality, and political justice predictably met with a number of obstacles and challenges. Use The Whiskey Rebellion, and at least four other sources to discuss the ongoing struggles between both individualism and integration as well as individuality and conformity in the early national period leading up to the Civil War.

3. The United States was a rapidly expanding and developing nation in the 19^th Century. These developments necessarily changed the country. Consider the impact of expansion and development on the politics, economy, and society of the nation. What debates arose around the choices that had to be made about the nature and direction of expansion and development?